The Call
by floss bucket
Summary: The truth behind Arthur's feelings after 2.06, and during the rest of Season 2. It started out as a feeling, but became much much more. Title from Regina Spektor. Written for blackteaplease. Warnings: Slash, Smut


The Call

Arthur sat on his bed, thinking over what had just happened. It had been one of the most dangerous, and admittedly most interesting, days for a long time, but it wasn't the fact that he had been dead for half an hour, or that he had killed a troll, which prayed on his mind. The moment he couldn't stop thinking about was what had happened after his father had dismissed him. The moment when Merlin had tried to hug him.

Arthur had, of course, pulled away before anything could happen. It was the right thing to do; such affection wasn't appropriate between people of such different stations (he carefully ignored the time he'd kissed Gwen). Despite that knowledge, he still had the feeling that he _wanted_ to hug Merlin, wanted to take the younger man in his arms and hold him tight and never let go.

But even though he wanted Merlin (probably a lot more than he was prepared to admit) he would never do _anything_ with his manservant. As well as the fairly obvious reason that they were both men, Arthur didn't want to risk the friendship he'd developed with Merlin. It was the only true friendship he'd ever had. Merlin didn't care about Arthur's position, and despite how much the Prince yelled at his manservant about that, it was one of his favourite things about the other man.

He wasn't going to ruin a friendship like that, even when Merlin didn't know how important their friendship was to Arthur. But just because he couldn't have the real thing, didn't mean that he was unable to use his imagination.

Arthur lay back on his bed, closed his eyes, and pictured Merlin. Arthur had his arms wrapped around the other man, and they were both lying on the bed. Merlin was relaxed and smiling, and his hand moved up to the side of Arthur's face. Arthur felt his anatomy reacting as Merlin ran a single thumb up and down his cheek. That, and the temptation of Merlin's soft pink lips, made him lean forward and kiss the man.

It was the best kiss Arthur had ever received, and he'd had more than his fair share of kisses. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he realised that it had been purely his imagination. However, rather than being disappointed at that fact, if made him even more curious as to how good the real thing could be.

He was about to start daydreaming again, hoping that he'd get another amazing kiss from imaginary-Merlin, when the real one burst into the room. Arthur sat up suddenly, hoping Merlin wouldn't ask what he'd been doing. He knew he wouldn't be able to lie to the one he loved, but he didn't want Merlin to know, because then Merlin would leave, and Arthur couldn't cope with that.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking, _Mer_lin?" he asked, starting the conversation in a completely different direction to the one he dreaded.

"I've never knocked, sire," replied Merlin, eliminating all tone of respect from the word 'sire', "what makes you think I'm going to start now?"

"You really are impossible, Merlin," said Arthur in a jokingly resigned tone, "I don't know why I haven't fired you yet, you idiot."

"You know you love me, sire," said Merlin, smiling at his friend and master.

Arthur didn't reply – he had far too much to think about. Was that what this feeling was? Love? This unquenchable desire to hold Merlin tight, and kiss him passionately. The need to protect the smaller man from all dangers, from all suffering, just so he was safe and happy. Was that love?

"Sire?" questioned Merlin, breaking into Arthur's thoughts, "is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, Merlin, it's just been an exhausting day. Why are you here, anyway? Didn't I give you the rest of the day off?"

"Yeah, you did, but…"

"But what, Merlin?"

"But I need to tell you something, and I'm probably never going to get the guts to again," he said in one breath.

Arthur dared to hope that Merlin's confession was the same one that he so wanted to make, but quickly stopped himself. That would never happen.

"So what is it, _Mer_lin? What do you want to tell me?" he asked.

"It's… it's a secret. And you've probably going to hate me once I tell you."

"I could never hate you, Merlin," interrupted Arthur seriously, but Merlin didn't seem to believe him.

"I- I-"

"Just tell me, Merlin. I promise you that I won't make any judgement until you've completely explained and I could never hate you," repeated Arthur reassuringly.

"I- I'm- I'm- Oh, fuck it, I can't do this," said Merlin, before running out of the room.

Arthur simply stood there, a sharp pain in his heart. Merlin didn't trust him, and if Merlin didn't trust him, then he could _never_ love him. As the tears rolled slowly down his cheeks, Arthur resolved to pack away his love in a dark corner of his heart; lest he let Merlin hurt him again.

~:~:~

The next few months passed very slowly and painfully for Arthur. He kept a very close eye on Merlin, but the other man was also working hard not to let Arthur find out anything. The Prince's other problem was his emotions. They hadn't wanted to be pushed away at all, and Merlin hadn't been doing _anything_ to help with that problem.

That time when he had almost killed his father came to mind. Merlin had stopped him from committing the biggest mistake of his life. Arthur had been somewhat surprised at himself for believing Merlin quicker than his father, but the realisation that Merlin's opinion was now the most important one in his life made his secret far more difficult to keep.

There had been other incidents too, like that once with the Lady Vivien, that had ended when Guinevere kissed him in the tent. Arthur knew the stories about true loves kiss, but he couldn't believe that he and Gwen were destined to be together. Some sort of block in his mind refused to let him believe that. Arthur wasn't sure if it was just his own stubbornness, or the memory of a soft kiss on the back of his ankle. At any rate, he wasn't going to give up on Merlin.

None of that, however, had been anything on what had happened last week. The Great Dragon had escaped from its prison deep beneath the castle and had attacked Camelot. Arthur's honour refused to let him die holed up in the castle, and he took the knights out for one last battle, fully expecting to die. Somehow, however, Arthur had made it, along with Merlin who had insisted on coming with them. Of the twelve knights who had accompanied them, only Leon had made it, but he was still unconscious from all of his rather serious burns.

Merlin had been much quieter than normal since then, and Arthur was sure he'd seen several tears in his manservant's eyes. That worried him, and he had resolved to make Merlin talk to him.

So here he was, sitting in his chair while Merlin stood nervously, obviously wondering what his Prince wanted from him.

"We need to talk, Merlin," said Arthur in a low voice, not looking at his manservant.

"About what, sire?" asked Merlin, but Arthur could tell that Merlin knew what they were going to be talking about, and really didn't want to.

"You've been acting very strangely for the past week, Merlin, and it's infringing on the quality of your work." Merlin's standard of work wasn't really the problem, but Arthur had some sort of annoying block when it came to sharing his emotions with Merlin.

"I've just been tired from the fight with the dragon, but I'll start working harder, sire," said Merlin, not looking at Arthur.

"Shut up, Merlin. I don't want you to start working harder, and I know it's not just the tiredness. You've got something on your mind, and it's not going to leave you alone until you tell someone."

Merlin didn't answer, and still refused to meet Arthur's gaze, so Arthur knew that he was on the right track.

"It's got something to do with your secret, the once you almost told me after the troll incident. Just tell me, Merlin and get it off your chest."

"I- I can't," said Merlin, stuttering.

That hurt Arthur, knowing that Merlin still didn't trust him enough, but he couldn't hold it against the younger man. After all, he still hadn't admitted his feelings to Merlin. But that thought gave him an idea of how to get Merlin to open up.

"Please, Merlin? I hate seeing you like this, all depressed and moody. Please just tell me what it is so I can help you."

"Why do you care? You're just my master, you shouldn't care about anything other than that I get my work done," said Merlin, a depressed, self hating tone in his voice.

The only thing that seemed to make Arthur reveal his feelings to Merlin was when these feelings were being challenged. "Is that honestly all you think of me, Merlin? Of course I care about you, you're my friend. Probably the best one I've ever had."

Merlin finally looked at Arthur, a surprised and confused look on his face. "What?" he said.

"You're my best friend. I want to help you. I don't want to keep seeing you upset."

Merlin still looked vaguely disbelieving at Arthur's commitment to him. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew my secret. You wouldn't want anything to do with me."

That annoyed Arthur, and he decided to pull out his master plan. "If I tell you one of my secrets, will that make you believe me?"

"What secrets could you possibly have, sire? I know everything about you!" shouted Merlin.

Arthur stood up, refusing to let Merlin take dominant position to him. "So then you know that I'm in love with you?" he shouted back.

Silence followed. Arthur moved away to gaze out the window, unable to look at the disgust he knew was in Merlin's eyes, unable to watch as his love left the room and his life. So he was very shocked when Merlin spoke up in a soft quiet tone.

"You're in love with me? Seriously? You, Arthur Pendragon, are in love with _me_?"

Arthur turned around and met Merlin's eyes, finding not disgust, but surprise, and happiness and _love_.

"Yeah," he breathed, "I love you."

Merlin's smile grew wider, and Arthur couldn't help but smile back.

"I love you too Arthur, but that wasn't the secret I was talking about before. It just made it harder to live with. I wanted to tell you, and I trusted you not to tell anyone else, that you'd let me leave with my life and reputation, but I was too scared to lose this… relationship we have."

"Merlin," said Arthur, not really sure how else to reply.

"Don't say anything, Arthur. I'll tell you. I'll tell you the truth. I… I'm a sorcerer."

To say that Arthur was shocked was an understatement. He had never really had any idea what Merlin's secret could be, but sorcery was the furthest thing from his mind. He knew that Merlin was an idiot, but he had never considered that his manservant could be so _stupid_ as to have come to Camelot when he was a sorcerer. He was so shocked by Merlin's idiocy, that he had to voice that thought.

"Then what the _hell_ are you doing here? I mean, I knew you were an idiot, but honestly, Merlin, magic in Camelot?"

Merlin looked away, a destroyed look on his face. It was obvious that he'd hoped for another reaction but Arthur also noted that Merlin knew it could have been a lot worse. He still had the problem of his manservant's dejection, though, and he was determined to fix it.

"I think you misunderstood me, Merlin," he said softly, drawing the other man's eyes up to meet his. "I'm not angry at you or anything like that. I just can't believe that you chose to come to Camelot."

"Until I got here, I didn't actually know how bad it was. And then I met you, and I couldn't leave," replied Merlin.

Arthur was surprised, and somewhat humbled by that. "You've been risking your life for the last two years, because of _me_?"

"Yeah," said Merlin quietly, "I suppose you could say that."

There was something in Merlin's tone that confused Arthur for a little bit, and then it clicked. "The dragon? The troll, Sigan, Morgause? The Questing Beast, Nimueh? That was all you?"

Merlin didn't say anything, simply nodding his agreement. Arthur nodded back, thoughtful. He'd suspected for a while that he'd had help in some battles, after all, there were some things even steel and courage couldn't destroy. And then to find out it was Merlin, was…

"You're my guardian angel," he whispered, taking a step closer to Merlin, "And I think it's time for you to get your reward.

"I- I don't need a reward, Arthur, honestly, I-," protested Merlin, but when Arthur's lips met his, he kissed back with just as much passion.

Arthur felt a warm, happy feeling spread out from his lips and all other places where he and Merlin were ouching. Was this magic, he wondered, or love? No, this was Merlin, this was destiny.

Arthur slid his hands lower down Merlin's body to the front of his breeches, where his fingers made quick work of undoing the laces. When he was finished there, he yanked off Merlin's shirt and neckerchief, and took a step backwards to admire his lover.

"You're beautiful," he breathed.

"And you're wearing far too much," said Merlin, and with a flash of gold, Arthur's clothes were gone.

For several moments, the two simply took in each other's bodies, before they moved in perfect unison and met in yet another passionate kiss. Their hands were moving, groping, _loving_.

"Bed," gasped Arthur, pushing Merlin towards the piece of furniture as the other man's hand found his cock and started stroking it.

"Fuck, Merlin, do that again!" ordered Arthur, and Merlin, for once in his life, happily complied.

Eventually Arthur couldn't take it anymore; "I want to fuck you, Merlin," he said.

His lover looked at him sexily through his lashes, and effortlessly conjured a small pot of oil. He turned over onto his knees and looked over his shoulder at Arthur, "Fuck me, sire," he said.

It was the sexiest thing Arthur had ever heard, and he obeyed immediately, coating his fingers and his cock with the oil, and then slowly inserting a single finger into Merlin's awaiting anus. He had never done this, but a few years ago one of the knights had had something with a stable boy, and had explained in detail _exactly_ how it worked.

He must have remembered correctly, or simply had a lot of luck, because Merlin moaned and writhed on his finger, and after a few minutes, cried out for, "another one!"

Arthur slowly inserted the second finger and started scissoring the two, stretching, exploring. Somehow, he managed to find a spot that made Merlin scream with pleasure.

"Please, Arthur, again! Do that again!" cried his lover. But Arthur removed both his fingers, lined his hips up with Merlin's and in one smooth movement, thrust.

The moan that emerged from Merlin's mouth was mirrored by the one Arthur himself was making.

"Fuck, Merlin, so tight!"

"Move, Arthur! Please!"

"Oh God, I love you!"

"Arthur!"

"Merlin!"

The two of them climaxed at the same time, Arthur then removing himself from Merlin and collapsing next to his lover.

"I really do love you, Merlin," said Arthur, staring into those amazing blue eyes that now had tiny flecks of gold scattered through them.

"I know, I love you too, Arthur. Until there's nothing left in this world, and then further still. You are my life and my destiny, and _nothing_ will ever take you away from me."

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLACKTEAPLEASE! This fic was written for her as a birthday present - and although it was handwritten ready on her actual birthday, the typed up version is a bit late... I blame that on getting back from Germany and having absolutely nothing to do during the day except talk to her... Actually, that's probably not a very good excuse... Oh well, you all got to read this fic, and I hope you all enjoyed it! It was originally meant to be a lot smuttier that it actually was, but I'm still not really happy with the scene on the end... Oh well, it's written and posted, can't change anything now! Please all of you read and review (or just review since you've obviously already read!) and then go read and review blackteaplease's fics! (She's in my favourites)**

**Another thing, I just wanted to say thank you to blackteaplease for getting me back into fanfiction writing - I can honestly tell you that NONE of these Merlin fics would have been written if I ****hadn't met her, so technically they should all be dedicated to her... As it stands I think only Such Is Life isn't... Anyway, to blackteaplease - thank you for being my friend and i love you! 3**

**xox fb**


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